Rooting an Android Device

buckmulligan

This is a question for the tech-savvy amongst you! For a number of reasons, I'm thinking about rooting my Samsung Galaxy S2 and installing some custom firmware on it. I've heard about issues of app compatibility with rooted devices and was wondering what experiences you guys have had with it and what custom firmware you'd recommend? It would seem that ClockworkMod Recovery and CyanogenMod are fairly popular. On the cycling side of things, I regularly use Google Maps and Strava, so retaining GPS functionality is a must!

Any advice greatly appreciated!

jawooga

My advice would be think carefully whether potentially bricking your phone is worth it. I tried this on my S2 and i believe it is not always possible. I tried several different kernels but each time the phone wouldn't boot and each time i had to reinstall a known stable kernel without root permissions - it is quite distressing when you think you've broken your phone at the beginning of a 2 year contract.

chrisaonabike

I installed a custom kernel and a CyanogenMod firmware on a Sony Xperia when I needed to unlock it. Everything worked absolutely fine afterwards, including GPS Route Tracker.

It was quite hard work, and since I know absolutely nothing about how it all works, it was very much a question of simply (!!) following instructions. If you've even heard of CyanogenMod you probably also know of http://forum.xda-developers.com, so I'd suggest doing some thorough research there.

Initially I found the sheer volume of information quite daunting, but after a lot of careful reading and comparing of threads, it gradually started to make sense and the phone was much improved at the end compared with the original.

buckmulligan

jawooga wrote:

My advice would be think carefully whether potentially bricking your phone is worth it. I tried this on my S2 and i believe it is not always possible.

Yeah, it's not something I'm considering lightly and I'm aware of the risks, but given the S2 is a fairly popular phone and the forums are awash with advice, I'd like to give it a try. My phone has some incredibly annoying misgivings that I'd like to try to rectify!

If you don't mind my asking, which kernels did you try and what stable version did you settle on?

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

Initially I found the sheer volume of information quite daunting, but after a lot of careful reading and comparing of threads, it gradually started to make sense and the phone was much improved at the end compared with the original.

Yeah, I'd consider myself very proficient when it comes to the consumer side of things, but the developer side of modern tech is a completely different ball game. I'm starting to understand some of it, but lots more research required I think!

tptvmbircn

I done it to my S2, absolutely fine, you'll need Odin flasher and instructions as mentioned from XDA. The one phone I bricked was a galaxy ace, but the USB ports were dodgy on an old laptop and that's the only reason I've ever had an issue.

You normally get GPS quick fixes on custom firmwares, cyanogenmod is probably the best although the team at paranoid android are not far behind lately. As far as app issues are going none at all, it's no mystery to root either. Just fully read about the ROM you are going to load, I'm typically a minimal person so tend to install and further lighten up the application side by using ADB.

If it's your first time modding, take time and read everything twice if anything before performing actions.

asquithea

I flashed my 2011 Xperia Ray to the latest supported version of Cyanogenmod - based on JellyBean 4.1.
I gained back a much more usable amount of space on the phone, and more modern versions of the Google apps.

I lost a little stability (very occasional crashes - maybe once every 2 months), and the internal compass used to orient walking directions seems to have stopped working (actually quite annoying).

I had to get a bloke online to help unlock the bootloader for me (needed a specialised bit of software). After that, the only major problem I had was going from an earlier to a later version of Cyanogenmod, where I forgot to update the kernel.

In general, I'd recommend it if your phone isn't going to get any more support (Sony never pushed any updates for mine) and you're running an older version of android. If you're already on a reasonably recent version, and the manufacturer hasn't crippled it, I'd question whether it's worth the trouble.

Daz555

BuckMulligan wrote:

This is a question for the tech-savvy amongst you! For a number of reasons, I'm thinking about rooting my Samsung Galaxy S2 and installing some custom firmware on it. I've heard about issues of app compatibility with rooted devices and was wondering what experiences you guys have had with it and what custom firmware you'd recommend? It would seem that ClockworkMod Recovery and CyanogenMod are fairly popular. On the cycling side of things, I regularly use Google Maps and Strava, so retaining GPS functionality is a must!

Any advice greatly appreciated!

The odd app slips out which does not work on rooted phones but they are very rare.

Best advice is to head over to http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1055

Everything you need to know is there and the place is chock full of phone geeks with brains the size of planets.

alihisgreat

I did it on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus... stuck with a mostly stock ROM that had a few tweaks and I did get a performance boost and battery life boost, but updating was a pain compared to the stock OTA updates so I returned it to stock after a few months.

Never had a problem with app compatibility, but I guess that might be an issue with some ROMs.

The whole process should be pretty simple though, just find a step-by-step and make sure you do everything exactly as is described.

pinno

Better to root a blow up doll than an android ?

I'll get my coat.

Alain Quay

BuckMulligan wrote:

This is a question for the tech-savvy amongst you! For a number of reasons, I'm thinking about rooting my Samsung Galaxy S2 and installing some custom firmware on it. I've heard about issues of app compatibility with rooted devices and was wondering what experiences you guys have had with it and what custom firmware you'd recommend? It would seem that ClockworkMod Recovery and CyanogenMod are fairly popular. On the cycling side of things, I regularly use Google Maps and Strava, so retaining GPS functionality is a must!

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Yes, as someone suggested don't say that to an Aussie!

ballysmate

pinarello001 wrote:

Better to root a blow up doll than an android ?

I'll get my coat.

Never mind your coat, get a footpump.

jawooga

jawooga wrote:

My advice would be think carefully whether potentially bricking your phone is worth it. I tried this on my S2 and i believe it is not always possible.

BuckMulligan wrote:

If you don't mind my asking, which kernels did you try and what stable version did you settle on?

Hi BM, I'm afraid I don't recall, and my desktop (which I did the work on) crashed a few months ago. Follow ChrisOnABikes's advice though with Odin etc and that web link, and in theory it is not too difficult.

When I found it too difficult though and I wasn't able to boot my phone anymore, there was enough information out there for me to get a stable kernel and flash it too my comatose phone. From memory, that got my phone in to a bootable state, and then I could return to it factory settings (though not necessary). The idea of returning to factory settings was to try and erase evidence of me having tampered with the firmware on the phone, if insurance was ever needed. However, afterwards, when connected to Kies on my desktop, the phone wasn't recognised as needing any kind of updates e.g. latest OS which is normally deployed through Kies - so I never got back completely the phone I had before.

All the above in mind, I decided it was a risk worth taking, as I would like to be able to install apps which e.g. remove all app adverts, and they need root access. Sorry I didn't answer your question, but good luck.

alan_sherman

My S2 just bricked itself - wouldn't boot. As it is still in the 2 year warranty I can send it back and they can fix it. If rooted they could refuse to fix it.

Samsung just updated the thing to Jelly Bean so what would you hope to achieve by going the custom route?

Daz555

alan sherman wrote:

My S2 just bricked itself - wouldn't boot. As it is still in the 2 year warranty I can send it back and they can fix it. If rooted they could refuse to fix it.

Samsung just updated the thing to Jelly Bean so what would you hope to achieve by going the custom route?

Good custom rooms are faster than stock with the option to run without the bloat you get from HTC and Samsung et al. You also usually get access to advanced stuff like overclocking and undervolting for increased speed and battery life.

Best of all though is being able to use apps which need root like Titanium Backup and being able to run different Android front ends if for example you'd like a change from the likes of Sense and Touchwiz.